What about Whitby? 3

Those early Christians sure knew their real estate.

Almost anywhere you wander in Whitby, the ancient remains of the abbey lurk on the horizon. It features in many of my photos from visit.

Having said that, in this particular photo the ruins are nowhere to be seen (that's the clock tower of St Mary's church peeking over). That's because from Whitby harbour you need to tackle the famous 199 steps nearly straight up the cliff face.

A clever way for the monks to keep out the riff-raff, I suppose!

Actually, the original abbey was home to both monks and nuns in the Anglo-Saxon tradition when it was established in the year 657.

For a religious outpost in a windswept clifftop position, the abbey features prominently in the history books. In the year 664 (when the paint would have been still wet) the abbey hosted the Synod of Whitby, when major differences between Celtic and Roman Christianity were ironed out, including how to determine the date for Easter.

Around the same time, the abbey's cowherd is said to have awoken from a dream with this song formed complete in his head:-

"Now we must praise the author of the heavenly realm, the might of the creator, and his purpose, the work of the father of glory: as he, who is the eternal God, is the author of all miracles; who first created the heavens as highest roof for the children men, then the earth, almighty guardian of the human race."

It would not find itself in the Top 40, and no other works of his survive, but the cowherd Caedmon is the oldest English poet whose name remains known to this day.

Vikings destroyed the abbey in the 800s and the site was left abandoned for two centuries, until after the Norman conquest. The Benedictines established a monastery in the 1220s and lived here until Henry VIII split from the Catholic church and dissolved the monasteries in 1540.

The years since have taken their toll. Local masons carted off much of the stone, the roof collapsed in a storm and Germans battlecruisers shelled what was left in 1914. Nowadays the ruins are preserved by English Heritage who have built a visitors centre next door behind the facade of Cholmley House, itself originally built using stone plundered from the abbey ruins.

Before taking those 199 steps back down into town, let's have a look in the church next door and see if we can find Dracula's grave, so click back again soon.

Plenty more photos of the abbey in this Facebook album.